Jan. 12th - Nong Khai to Phon Phisai - Kim and Glory - Cycling beyond

January 12, 2024

Jan. 12th - Nong Khai to Phon Phisai

Big Snake Guesthouse (no snake found)

30 miles to my hotel and then an extra 5 putzing around town. I should also mention that the terrain is flat...except for that one short steep hill that materialized near the end of the day. I like flat!

Headed straight to the riverside bike path. What a great way to start off today’s ride!!

Yes, I may have acted like I was 10 yesterday and followed the squiggly lines on my bike 😂

The path is much more pleasant and nicer than I expected. Only one spot where the bricks had shifted did it get a little bumpy

Wild flowers! This was in front of a coffee shop so I am sure they were planted

I look at Google maps and there’s a road close by. Just follow the bumpy dirt path, ride between the grazing cows, 😳 bypass the construction area and head up to road 3040 which surprisingly also has legit bike lanes. My pleasant cycling continues!

He was out collecting plants. You can barely see the sickle type tool in his hand.

These shelters are scattered along the roads. The shade is appreciated. This was my lunch break

I stopped at a second shelter for a quick break and because I wanted to raise my seat just a hair. I’m pretty sure this is where I lost my compact little tool with all my allen wrenches. Dang it!

Is now a good time to mention I’m losing all kinds of stuff on this trip?! That’s not like me. So far I’ve lost a comb, a washcloth, a water bottle, almost lost my bike computer (but that’s more the mini-van drivers fault) and the worst, my glasses (for vision) oh, and I suppose I should add my little tool kit now 🙄 I’ve written to a bunch of the hotels asking about my glasses, but no luck 😢 . (I wear contacts 99.9% of the time, but it’s nice to have back up.

My cycling friends gave me a heads up about a hotel, Big Snake Hotel, just on the northern outskirts of town. They have a huge swimming pool!! I mean, huge! It was a perfect place for me right on the shores of the river.

I’ve never heard of anyone fishing for cows before, but it appears he caught one! 😂

Obligatory toe shot perfectly (and purposely) positioned between the palm trees and flower pots.

I had to ride to town to hunt down the AIS (phone company). I had put my Thai SIM card back in, but it wasn’t working even though it said it should be. The ladies at the shop had Simone in the phone who spoke English. A pain in the butt, but in the end they told me it was cheaper to buy a new promo package and SIM card than to top up the one I had. Hmmm, sounds suspicious especially when I was getting ready to leave and he said I can top it up next time — for a cheaper price than I was getting quoted today to top up. Oh well, I have a working phone again.

When I got back, I got in the pool one more time even though the sun was down. It was too good to pass up. Then I went down to watch the sunset. Found a Wat too.

I love how the colors are reflected in the water

I wonder how loud that gong is? (Assuming it is a gong!)

Your tongue is disgusting! I bet you have bad breath!

Flashback: forgot to load from my camera. From the last few days

Green! Very, very green! It's so pretty!

Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 525 miles (845 km)

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